Commonwealth - Chapters 5-9 & Whole book (Spoilers allowed)

[Hugh]

What were your overall impressions? Did you like the way Patchett tied up the ending, or did you feel it was too neat? Any favourite moments or characters?

[LindaJ^]

I had to go back and read my review (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... the reviews you posted to refresh my memory of this book. I have read all of Patchett's novels (and some of her non-fiction). I like the way she handles her characters, how they grow through the novel. Your first impression, in my experience, will never be quite right. I liked the ending. Some of my favorite moments were when the children interacted - they seemed so right. My least favorite storyline was the Bert and Beverly romance. I think I blamed them most for the childhood tragedy.

[Hugh]

Linda, I think I agree with all of that, though I have read none of her other novels. My Review

[LindaJ^]

Hugh, I think you would enjoy her books. While Bel Canto is considered her best, I think all are wonderfully done. In her non-fiction, Truth & Beauty tells about her friendship with Lucy Grealy.

[Casceil]

I liked the book very much. I found it somewhat compelling from the beginning, but it became really compelling around Chapter Five, when I finally sorted out the kids in my mind. Before that, I found the time jumps very disconcerting. But as the author began to fill in the holes she had skated over earlier--like what happened to Calvin--I became very interested in seeing how it all went together.

[Mark]

As a "domestic novel," to use the Guardian's term, it is a middling-good effort. Characters evolve in believable, if unexpected ways, Actions have consequences. Dramatic events turn out to have reasons.
That undercuts the wonder I found in the story: Patchett's wry humor, leavening each "domestic" detail. In fact, in a tale retailed as the story of two families united by adultery, it turns out to be the story of the smallest person at that first party, not all the sex and liquor drinking adults.
I gasped at the unfolding of the vacation house situation. I've seen exactly that situation, and it struck a nerve.
Likewise, there was that gun - twice! - (the first one in the glove compartment). Patchett hits every Stephen King horror note (children using a shortcut across the field, etc.) -- and then radically undercuts the horror motif with a horror of a completely different sort.
My thanks for the nomination!

[Mari]

Overall I really enjoyed this (only the second Patchett I've read, the other being State of Wonder), but the end was rather bittersweet kumbaya, although that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Perhaps everything is tied up just a bit too tidily for my tastes: Beverly is finally (and deservedly) saddled with a husband whom she cannot leave, while Bert (again deservedly) ends up alone; Fix finds new happiness with his second wife (but is dying of cancer, putting the bitter in bittersweet), and Franny and Caroline take Teresa to the hospital, thereby reuniting the two wronged parties of the original affair, etc. As adults, all five children seem to some extent to be atoning for the sins of their parents and for their own part in Cal's death.

To me the metafictional aspects were the most interesting and made the book a rather engrossing read. (Clever making that "Commonwealth" a prize-winning success, by the way!) Franny's telling of their story to Leon Posen doesn't appear to have been that destructive in the long run – instead it seems redemptive, which in turn can be read as a fictionalised defence of the power of fiction.

Although this book has been on my radar for a while, it's unlikely that I would've read it soon had it not been chosen as a group read here, but I'm happy it was chosen and available from my library, and pleased that I finally managed to read something in time for the discussion.

[Robert]

I'm midway through chapter 7 but I think i'll finish the book in the next hour or so (but I'll be on my commute and I didn't want to wait til tonight)

This is my third Patchett and probably my favourite - I found it a bit slow to begin with but by the second chapter I was sold.

I love the way the book is episodic and yet a full story occurs, Patchett puts little details which help the reader connect the dots.

I thought the Commonwealth storyline to be clever but the relationships, especially Albie's and Franny's - they are clearly the linking factor from the beginning and Patchett is consistent with that.
At times I'm reminded of A Visit from the Goon SquadA Visit from the Goon Squad crossed with AsymmetryAsymmetry

Although I have not said anything new - I just posted here to say that I really liked this book. Patchett can do no wrong but Commonwealth cements that.

[Kathy]

I would give this book a 3.5 rating. Ann Patchett is wonderful at characterization. She has a way of making each character feel “real”. You become invested in their stories and motivations. The problem, for me, arises in that there were too many characters over too many time periods. I understand that one theme is the consequences that can happen from a single action. However, it felt like the message was diluted by trying to cover every single person’s life story instead of focusing on specific situations. Does Teresa’s visit to Holly in Sweden have the same weight as Calvin’s bee sting?

Another theme is life experiences/stories/memories. Who owns them? Who can reveal them? How are they interpreted? Ann Patchett touches on this theme with the Leon Posen vignette. A couple of the siblings discuss the”book”. A movie is made. Then the theme seems to be dropped. Again, Patchett may have been trying to say too much with this book and parts of her message became diluted.